Costain : Five Years’ More Funding For Infrastructure Research

25 August 2016

Costain has helped the Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (CSIC) secure funding for the next five years.

The Cambridge University-based Centre aims to transform the future of infrastructure and help the UK become a world leader in the fields of sensing technologies, asset management and smart city development. It has secured a further five years' funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Government funding body Innovate UK. This additional funding will help the CSIC build on its achievements over the past five years to become an internationally-known hub for the infrastructure and construction industry, bringing together leading academics and industrialists and developing a faster route for innovation adoption.

Costain provided a letter of support to help the CSIC its Phase 2 funding. The company was also instrumental in helping set up two of the Centre's major demonstration projects, National Grid London Power Tunnels and London Bridge Station, as well as being involved in the Centre's steering group and guiding a number of its collaborative projects.

For Phase 2, Costain has already committed to sponsoring a PhD project on BIM (Business Information Modelling) Level 3 implementation.

Said Dr Jennifer Schooling, Director of CSIC: 'Securing this funding for the next five years offers a wide range of opportunities to advance CSIC's research and embed a culture of innovation adoption in the infrastructure and construction industries. CSIC cannot achieve this alone - partnering with industry is the key to our success to date and we look forward to continuing to work with Costain on the development of new skills and techniques to deliver smarter infrastructure.'

The Centre, said Tim Embley, Costain Group Innovation & Knowledge Manager, has played a key part in enabling Costain teams to address industry challenges. 'At London Bridge we have had a three-year study looking at Smart Stations and how to improve customer experience by using technology to understand asset performance.'

Added James Aitken, Costain Design Manager: 'This has helped us develop knowledge of the range of new solutions we can provide to our customers. Being involved in the research has allowed me to inspire others and also have a real impact on advancing technical knowledge in our business.'

At London Power Tunnels, Costain's early involvement in the fibre optic monitoring work at Cambridge enabled it to achieve a world first and integrate fibre optic sensors in the tunnel segments for long-term structural monitoring. Said Nigel Drayton, Costain Senior Survey Manager: 'We have now been able to take this technology and apply to many other different structural monitoring opportunities at London Bridge and Crossrail.'

For more information on the CSIC go to: www.centreforsmartinfrastructure.com

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